Documents are often created and shared with groups of individuals to facilitate the exchange of information. Presentation programs, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, aid this effort by creating a medium in which a presenter (or group of presenters) can create presentation decks made up of slides containing visual and auditory content, which can then be presented to an individual or group of individuals in a slide show format. Individuals viewing the presentation often provide feedback to the presenter after the conclusion of the presentation, in the form of comments and questions, provided in-person, or at a later time, or as a red-lined hardcopy of the presentation itself. This collaborative effort is often the ultimate goal of presenting the information to a group of individuals in the first place, but can be impaired as a result of the inability to effectively provide, receive, and manage the feedback.
For example, in a traditional presentation, a presenter first creates and distributes a set of presentation documents in the form of a digital slide show delivered electronically, or as a printed hardcopy to a group of individuals. In a live presentation of the document, the presenter explains the content of the presentation to the group, pausing as a result of interruptions as a result of questions or comments related to the content of the presentation. These frequent pauses in the presentation can result in a segmented and disconnected explanation of topics, and may also result in the presenter losing their train of thought, slowing down the pace of the presentation, and possibly missing or skipping over important concepts.
In cases where the presentation is simply delivered to individuals to view on their own time, the presenter is then faced with the problem of receiving feedback and comments through multiple mediums (e.g., phone calls, in person conversations, red-lined hardcopies, or emails), as well as duplicative comments which become time consuming and frustrating to repeatedly address. As a result, many comments may remain unresolved, and the presentation may fail to incorporate valuable feedback which the presenter may have missed.
It is therefore valuable to devise systems and methods to facilitate and encourage the collaborative process, while avoiding the current cumbersome, time-consuming, and error-prone methods which exist currently.